Bromocriptine is a dopamine agonist drug (meaning that it acts like dopamine in the brain) that has been used for over three decades for the treatment of a number of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, acromegaly (the disease Andre “The Giant” had), and overproduction of the hormone prolactin. You may be wondering what this has to do with the topic of body composition.

As I discuss in many of my articles and other books, the body regulates factors such as body weight, composition and appetite through a variety of hormones such as insulin and leptin. It turns out that those hormones exert at least part of their effect through dopamine levels in the brain. When people diet, dopamine levels drop in the brain and this is responsible for many of the effects (such as lowered metabolic rate, increased hunger, etc.) that occur.

My book Bromocriptine starts by outlining the systems that regulate body weight and fat levels before explaining how the drug bromocriptine can ‘trick’ the body into thinking that it’s not dieting so that metabolic rate doesn’t slow, hunger is decreased, etc. Side effects, dosing and everything else related to the drug and how it can be used for various purposes related to body composition are outlined in detail in the book.

The effects of bromocriptine in the brain are complex and different sources give slightly different descriptions. To avoid utter confusion on the part of myself and the readers, I’m only going to focus on bromocriptine’s primary mode of action, which is as a dopamine 2 (D2) receptor agonist (30). Bromocriptine is also a weak antagonist at the D1 receptor. Now that youre totally confused, let me explain what it means to be a D2 receptor agonist or a weak D1 receptor antagonist.

An agonist is any drug or compound that stimulates a specific receptor. So, in the same way that a hormone/neurotransmitter will bind to the receptor and make ’stuff happen’, an agonist drug does the same.

An antagonist is the opposite of an agonist. It is a drug that binds to a receptor without sending the normal metabolic signal. But it’s more than just neutral. At the same time that it binds the receptor without sending a signal, it also prevents other compounds (such as DA itself) from binding.

As a D2 receptor agonist drug, bromocriptine will bind to the D2 receptor and cause an effect similar to if DA itself had bound. It also has weak antagonistic effect at the D1 receptor, which aren’t that important in the big scheme of things. As a weak D1 antagonist, bromocriptine binds to the D1 receptor a little, preventing normal binding of DA a little. I won’t really talk too much about this effect since it seems fairly unimportant in the big scheme of things.

Reader Feedback

Hi Lyle,
I just wanted to drop you a note and tell you how much I appreciate your Bromocriptine booklet. I have been a perpetual dieter for the majority of my adult life. After reading the Bromocriptine booklet, I had a much better understanding on how the body and brain react to (and reject!) dieting. Your book was easy enough to read, yet still allowed me to educate myself, and make an informed decision as to whether I would pursue the use of this medication, or not.

I did decide to actually try bromocriptine, and I have to say that I feel I’ve had some great success in breaking through diet barriers I’ve not been able to break through previously. I had gone through a 6 week round of your PSMF-Rapid Fat Loss Plan (another fantastic book by the way) that left me feeling physically drained and emotionally worn out. I took a recommended diet break, and then started another round, this time I monitored my morning temperature, and added bromocriptine to my regime.

The results were great, and I felt so much better than on the first go-round. My morning temperatures remained stable, and I didn’t have that hard hormone crash that inevitably happens while dieting. My appetite was severely reduced. I had more energy, and did not have that physically and emotionally “wrung-out” feeling I had with my first PSMF go-round. Hard-core dieting can give you a kind of brain fog feeling also, and I had no issues with this either, which is important, as I need to be able to focus on my job during the day.

The only real side effect I’ve encountered (on 5mg daily) is a “stuffy nose” that comes on about 1 hour after dosing. This dissipates during the course of the day, and is definitely not intolerable. After about 2 weeks the severity of the stuffy nose is also greatly decreased.

To date, utilizing PSMF, coupled with Bromocriptine, I’ve been able to lose 34 lbs total, and over 15 inches off my body…This is the most weight I’ve been able to lose at any given time.

Many thanks Lyle, for these great and informative books…I’m still waiting for an Endocrine book!

Regards,
Jennifer – Charleston, SC

“I have had no previous success with the traditional low-fat diets. While I have had success with ketogenic type diets in the past, I cannot stay on a keto diet for the rest of my life and when I stopped the ketogenic diets my fat returned.

Lyle’s Bromocriptin book contains a simple, easy to follow plan that enabled me to lose fat while preserving my muscle on the more mainstream diet and most importantly – KEEPING the fat off afterwards.

By following Lyle’s advice to add resistance exercise with the Bromo diet plan here is my pre and post numbers from my first time using Bromo.

Using Bromo at 5mg/day as per Lyle’s book I effortlessly lost over 15 Kg of total body weight. Most importantly – The real story is how much my body CHANGED – I actually lost over 30Kg of body FAT and gained nearly 15 Kg of MUSCLE.

That was in 2006. Since then I have never again gone above 127KG total body weight and my body fat percentages are steady.”

Myles – Alberta, Canada

Purchase Options

Bromocriptine: An Old Drug with New Uses can be purchased in one of three formats.

The first is as a PDF e-book download for $27.00. You will receive a link for immediate download from my shopping cart and the book can be read with any free PDF reader (i.e. Preview Adobe Reader, Foxit) or printed.

The second is as a hardcopy book for $37.00 + Shipping/Handling. Your order will be sent to my print on demand company, printed and shipped to you. Orders typically arrive in 3-6 days within the United States but can take up to 4 weeks internationally. Due to the delay in overseas shipping along with high shipping rates, I strongly suggest the e-book option for International purchasers.

Finally, there is a hardcopy/e-book bundle. For only $10 more than the hardcopy book itself ($47.00 plus Shipping/Handling), you’ll get the e-book for immediate download as well as receiving a physical book from Vervante.

E-book: 27.00

Hardcopy:37.00+S/H

Bundle: 47.00+S/H

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Comments

I always love to hear back from my readers; if you'd like to provide some feedback about the book or how well the information in it worked for you, please feel free to use the comments section below.

8 Responses to “Bromocriptine”

Christina Rice on
August 12th, 2009 11:39 pm

I’d like to try adding bromocriptine to my PSMF diet, but how this RX obtainable? If it can only be had from MDs, what on earth can one say to alleviate their fears of prescribing off label?

As discussed in the book, you can obtain bromocriptine from non-US source with a prescription. People do it ALL the time.

Lyle

Evan on
April 29th, 2010 5:10 pm

Just read this. I’m going to try it. I’ve got a protocol that I use to go from where I’m at now (10%) to 6-7%. I’ve done it a few times. I always keep all my lean mass so that’s a non-issue, however, I always experience lethargy and insane carb cravings at night @ like 1 o’clock in the morning. I’m sure it takes me a couple of extra weeks every time because I can’t not shove cocoa puffs in my face when I wake up in the middle of the night.

Would this help with hunger even at that time of the night after the bromo is more than halfway out of your system?

I’ll be sure to email you some very detailed feedback. If it works for me I’ll also keep you up to date on my lean mass gaining protocol with it. I read that you hadn’t gotten any feedback about that so far.

Evan on
April 29th, 2010 5:20 pm

I guess the question would be: my leptin levels will be zero, how long would it take NPY and CRH levels to skyrocket and cause hunger with the lessened D2 agonism as the bromo is metabolized? Days or hours?

Kristy on
June 3rd, 2011 9:06 am

I’m fully aware that weight loss is directly linked to our hormonal/genetic makeups. With bromocriptine, my question is what happeneds if you experience the gastro effects some people get on an everyday basis? I’ve been given bromocriptine because my prolactin levels don’t want to stay at a normal level. Any time in the past that I’ve been overweight, my prolactin level was elevated. At this point, I still have no idea what else to do regarding eating food, I’ve been low-carbing for a while now and haven’t been able to reduce my body weight below 145. I used to be 125. As a woman, I see that we have a challenging time because our hormones tend to fluctuate often. It would be nice for a Doctor to tell you exactly what to eat, how often, specific times, so that way a person could head in the right direction. All of the Doctors i’ve been to have not addressed this important issue. And there are so many doctors, and non-doctors, dieticians, etc that have all different advice as far as eating in general goes. So, who do I listen to??

Debbie on
July 27th, 2011 8:21 am

I will be starting Bromocriptine for treatment of a pituitary tumor (and all the FUN that brings with it)

Appreciated reading your article. Thank you!

kam on
August 2nd, 2011 4:30 pm

My gynaecologist recommended Bromocriptine for me to dry breast milk I still have even though I have stopped breast feeding for Over three years. when I took the first dose of the medication I went to bed immediately when I woke up in the morning I nearly fainted. Doctors should advise/warn patients of the serious side effects of Bromocriptine.

penn on
October 7th, 2011 3:26 am

okay this did not work. if u want to lose weight and keep it off forever, the key is leptin resistance. read Mastering Leptin and the 5 rules of leptin by Byron Richards.